One Night
by Wespe
Summary: Dib is acting strange so Gaz goes to investigate. What she finds is totally unexpected.
1. Chapter 1

**Another one shot. Just to get in the spirit of Halloween which will be coming up in about a month.**

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><p>It was a normal day for Gaz. She sat playing her favorite game on the sofa. Mindlessly tapping away for hours as she progressed through the levels. She rarely put it down for anything, if she could help it. So it made this one opportunity all the more rare.<p>

Her brother stepped through the door. She knew it was her brother because no-one else lived there and their father never came home this early. "Hey Dib!" she shouted irately "Pizza is on the table".

"Okay Gaz." he answered, his voice lacking its normal charisma.

She raised her eyebrow. Dib was never this way. She set down the game and went into the kitchen to see Dib staring out the window into the front yard. His face was white, his expression dull. It was as if he had seen a ghost. "What's up with you?" she asked.

He seemed to come out of a shock, not realizing her presence in the kitchen. "What! Oh...nothing." he smiled "Just wondering about...the weather is all. Yeah, the weather. Seem like a storm is coming." his palms writhed. He was nervous, but for what reason, Gaz didn't know.

"Uh-huh, sure, the weather. Now tell me what it really is."

He riled with anger, "Look! It's none of your business, just leave me alone!" She was taken a back at his sudden aggressiveness. An aggressiveness he had never shown before. She stared at him for a brief moment after the outburst. "Gaz... I'm sorry. Just...It's been a long day."

"Okay..." she couldn't think of the words to say. She assumed her normal annoyed attitude and shrugged it off as nothing.

Later that night, she ascended the stairs to go to bed. She looked down the narrow hall-way. The door to Dib's room was on the right; it was shut. To the left, was the bathroom; it was also shut. But underneath the bathroom door she could see the light was on and she could hear water running Dib was taking a shower, she thought. As she passed the door heard from within the shower the humming of the tune of "The Itsy Bitsy Spider".

She gave the door a good bang, "You'd better not hum that all night." She then went into her room, undressed, and went to bed.

Later, she heard a noise which startled her awake. She listened closely from down the hall and could hear the same humming to the same tune. She shouted down the hall "Dib, stop the damn humming and go to bed!" She put a pillow over her head and went to bed.

Sometime later, she heard the humming again. This time she was even more agitated. "I'm not kidding Dib! Shut the hell up!" this time the humming didn't stop. She couldn't take anymore.

She got up from her bed, and went down the hall to Dib's room. She yanked open the door and the humming stopped. She went over to the bed and pulled back the covers and she screamed! There was blood everywhere, stained all over the covers all around Dib. But he had no head! His head was gone! And only his severed neck lay there in the bed. She felt her heart sink into her chest. "This can't be real! This can't be happening!" she cried.

Suddenly, the door closed behind her. She was so frightened she couldn't move, an the peel of maniacal laughter erupted from the corner. The voice crept up behind her, slowly humming the notes of that horrid child's song. It whispered into her ear "The Itsy Bitsy spider, went up the water spout..."

She cringed and horror. I'll close my eyes, she thought, and it'll be morning. It'll all be alright in the morning...

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><p><strong>Should I continue? Tell me what you think and review. <strong>


	2. Chapter 2

**ALRIGHT! CHAPTER 2!**

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><p>Gaz awoke from her bed the next morning. Too early, she concluded - it was still dark out. The lights from the city street lamps were still on and any sign of the sun was not to be seen. She looked over to her digital alarm clock which read: 3:32. She shivered, still being in a cold sweat as she gazed around the room. "Was it all just a dream?" she asked out loud.<p>

She decided to find out. She slowly opened her door and looked down the hallway. There was dead silence in the small house, except for the gentle ticking of the clock mounted on the wall near the stair case. She tip-toed as slowly as she could up to Dib's door, which was still closed and she heard gentle snoring coming from inside. She wanted to dispel all doubt and open the door so she would see for herself if it were true or not, but she couldn't force herself to turn the knob.

"What if he wakes up?" she asked herself. "Do I say that I was worried about him? Me! What will he think of me then?" After much compromising with herself, she slowly opened the door to see inside.

In the room, a mass was lying under the covers, gentling breathing up and down. At the far end, Dib's hair was sticking up at the edge of his covers. She felt an instant relief wash over her as she realized that the entire ordeal was but a figment of her own imagination. She scolded herself for believing such nonsense and vowed to herself not to watch so many slasher films in the future.

She decided then, that she would go to the kitchen and eat something before going back to bed. It was Saturday after all and she didn't want to lose this time to sleep in to some crazy spooks that were probably the result of some crazy speculation.

She descended the stairs, feeling much better about herself. She rounded the corner and saw the opened box of half-eaten (and by this time cold) Pizza laying on the dinner table. She went over and examined it. "Bad Pizza" she told herself.

Suddenly, something fell from aloft. A single drop descended and fell on her head. She looked up to see a pool of crimson blood forming on the ceiling, a slow trickle leaking through the board and descending the wall on the far side. She gasped in horror and then she heard the peel of the same maniacal laughter. It was maddening in affect, filling every corner of the house; but then it stopped. And she heard the same tune, the same humming of the accursed child's song. It wasn't a dream! It was real!

She heard a thump, as if a body had just hit the floor and the voice suddenly sounded like it came into the upstairs hall, as if it were dragging something heavy behind it. Her heart skipped a beat. Fear suddenly washed over her.

Gaz darted for the front door hoping to escape, but it was locked, someone had jimmied the door. She cursed under her breath as she heard the object thump as it was dragged down every singular step. She ran as fast as she could and hid in the closet. She heard the object being dragged along, with heavy footsteps tromping on the hard floor. It resonated from the hallway and she saw the dark incantations of shadows pass her hiding place, praying no-one noticed her hiding place. She heard the front door open and then close as the footsteps slowly faded into the dark.

She stood there in the closet amongst the coats and hangers, holding her hands over head as she thought about what to do. "I can't just wait here to die!" she thought. "What if he comes back!"

She waited a good twenty minutes in bated anticipation of his imminent return, but there was nothing now, save the silence of the urban scape outside. She opened the closet door to see a fresh trail of blood leading from the stairs and then to the front door. Cautiously, she went over to the open entrance, only to notice that the trail of blood mysteriously stopped at the doorway's edge. Outside, there was nothing to be seen. "I must be losing my mind!" she screamed inside her head. "I must be losing my mind!"

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><p><strong>Remember to review. They're always appreciated.<strong>


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you all for all the feedback. I really appreciate it.**

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><p>Gaz phoned the authorities immediately. She told them about what had happened; about the body with the missing head and the trail of blood. They told her to lock herself inside the house and that they would be there as soon as possible.<p>

She didn't want to stay in the house. The stench of death and fresh blood still lingered in the air. So she stood outside on the sidewalk, only dressed in her undergarments and bathrobe as she waited for the police to show up.

When they did, she breathed a sigh of relief. She eagerly started for the house, opening the front door to reveal: nothing. The blood had vanished from the carpet! There was no sign of a struggle, or a fight, or a body being pulled. It was just an ordinary living room. She couldn't believe her eyes. Where had it all gone?

The sight down-stairs was perplexing, the one upstairs was disturbing. It was gone. Everything was gone! Not just the body or the blood on the sheet, the entire room had vanished! Sitting where Dib's door use to be, was just only the blank white face of plastered molding, as pale and faded as the wall around it. She felt the entire area where she was sure the door was, making sure she it was real. She felt only the cold placid texture of pale facade beneath her shaking palms.

The police officers chuckled to themselves as they re-holstered their guns. "You were having a bad dream." the one of the said, as if her were talking to a small child.

"No! I have a brother! He's here! Is saw him murdered with my own eyes!"

He answered with a great deal of patience, "In a room that doesn't exist?" The other snickered. "Just go back to bed and everything will be alright when you wake up in the morning."

"Will you not stay?" she asked.

"As far as I'm concerned miss, there's nothing to stay for. You live in a safe neighborhood here on the nice side of town. There's nothing to be afraid of. I think you should go back to bed and I'm sure tomorrow morning you'll have a good laugh about this." With that, the two men left in their car and vanished into the night.

Gaz was almost certain she had gone completely insane now. Where had Dib's room gone! She looked over at the family photo that was laying on table. It had her and her dad but the place where Dib had been was now gone. Just a another part of the blue background. It was as if he had fallen off the face of the earth.

She went over to the phone with the intention of calling her dad who was working in his science lab on the far side of town. He was never at home. Always traveling to a conference somewhere or busy finding cures. She picked up the receiver but there was no dial tone. She then pulled out her cell phone, no signal.

She cursed, visibly shaken now. She went back and stared at the wall where Dib's room had been, trying to figure out what had happened.

"There's just no logical explanation!" she shouted at last. "Maybe I'm just dreaming..." she sighed. She pinched herself to be sure. She felt the stinging tinge of her nails bite into her flesh. Pain. No, she wasn't dreaming.

She didn't want to stay in the house, but where could she go? It was still too early and nobody was awake. She shook her head, unable to see or understand what had happened, she resolved at last to go to bed and try to get some sleep. Maybe, she'd wake up from this nightmare then.

It was not a second after she put her head on the pillow though, that she heard the same low, moaning humming that she had heard before, only this time it was humming to the tune "Oh Susanna" and it was coming from outside. She went over the window and pulled back the curtains. There on the street, staring back at her with eyes as cold as death was what looked like a man dressed in a white shirt and black trousers. His face was ragged and mealy, its flesh drooping from the bone, and he had eyes that were sunk deep into his head which seemed to glow like those of a cat.

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><p><strong>As always, reviews are greatly appreciated.<strong>

**Post Scriptum: Since I know my description will never do the image the "man" is based off of, I deceided to include the link here for all you who wish to see him in all his glorious spookiness. Not for those of you who get nightmares easily. www. yellerstudio. com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/IMG_**


	4. Chapter 4

The street-light above the ghastly specter flickered rapidly. The bulb briefly going out and then immediately coming back on. When Gaz looked to where she saw him standing – he was gone! There was not a trace of him to be seen.

But before she could even turn around, she felt a hand pressed on her shoulder. It made her blood turn cold. She tried to scream but the other slithering hand wrapped around her mouth. The creature then shoved her onto the bed, his frightening appearance now hidden in shadows with only his eyes, bright as the moon, peering through the looming darkness that shrouded him over like a shroud.

"What do you want?" she asked, no longer able to muster any courage.

The creature didn't respond. Instead, he produced a long ax from within the piercing darkness; crimson blood dripping from the blade. He slowly began to lift it above his head. Gaz screamed an ear-piercing cry as the swoosh of the ax whistled like a freight train descending from above. Suddenly the entire world was spinning. Everything was in a state of flux. The only thing that remained constant was Gaz, who remained screaming in the darkness of her room.

She felt herself shake, "Gaz, Gaz!" she opened her eyes to see her brother's face staring at her through the dusk of the early morning. She stopped her violent contortions. "Gaz, what's the matter?"

She embraced her brother. "Dib! Oh God..." she couldn't utter a word. She clutched her arms around his chest, holding as if clinging onto life.

"I heard you screaming and I came to see what was wrong. Is everything okay?"

"It's...okay now." she couldn't withhold her weeping as she let loose into her brother's shoulder.

He coaxed her head, gentling brushing her hair. "It's alright now. You were just having a bad dream."

She replied in a faint whisper, "But it seemed so real...Too real.."

"Dreams often do." He picks up her chin and looks straight into her eyes. "Maybe you should go back to bed. Everything will be alright in the morning. And then, maybe you'll remember..."

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><p><strong>Short chapter, I know. The next chapter will be worth it though. As always, reviews are appreciated.<strong>


	5. Chapter 5

Dib snickered gaily to himself as he watched on his TV screen as Gaz erupted into fits of screaming. He allowed himself to laugh as her face cringed in horror at the sight of the hologram disappearing. "You know, that was an awful trick you and I pulled, Dib-stink" came a voice from behind me.

"I know, but without your alien technology it never would have worked."

He glared at him and held his head to one side, his eyes shut with dissatisfaction. "I think you're forgetting Zim's amazing acting skills. I don't think any of this would have been possible without my glorious evil laughter.'

"It certainly added the charm to it all. What with the whole improvised song of yours. I thought for sure though that she would have figured me out when I was coming into the house."

"Why's that?"

"I was carrying rotten bloody cuts I got from the butcher in my coat. I didn't expect her to be home waiting for me."

"Uh-huh. Is that why you were at the window telling me 'not now'."

"Yeah, sort of. I mean, she would have been less suspicious has she found out. By the way, did you return the ax?"

"Nope..."

"Why?"

"Because I need it.." A crooked smile twisted over Zim's face.

Dib eyes him coldly. "Any particular reason?"

"To chop some wood..." he said flatly.

"Sure, Zim, sure."

"Admit it! That was scary!"

"No Zim, just a bit creepy."

"Lies! I saw FEAR in your pathetic eyes!"

"You're not that good of an actor Zim."

He pouts. "Fine, whatever."

The tape ends as Dib comes bursting through the room. Dib pushes the 'eject' button on the DVD player. "Hey, you wanna go get some milk-shakes at the mall? They're having a buy one get one free until ten."

"Sure..."

With that, they both departed happily, while Gaz was still balled up in the corner of her room, waiting for the sun to rise...

The End.

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><p><strong>WOO! It's done! I'd like to thank all of you who reviewed for your support. Thanks.<strong>


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